Last Song

Chapter Four

"Kagome! You can't keep daydreaming like that! The boss will have our heads for sure!" Kagome jumped at the sound of Sango's voice, seeing her best friend grinning at her from the drafting desk across the way, her own designs and materials strewn everywhere.

"I wasn't daydreaming! I was...working..." Sango snorted.

"Bull, you were in 'La La Land'. Wait...were you working on music?" Kagome nodded and Sango perked up before looking around like some sort of rodent avoiding the feline before getting up and scurrying over to where Kagome sat with a few heavily marked sheets of music laying over her newest design for the upcoming summer season.

"It's a new one I came up with last night. I don't know why I wrote it but..." Kagome trailed off when she saw her friend's expression as she looked over the music, shock so evident that she looked like she'd just been shot.

"Oh Kami..." Sango's voice came out in a strangled whisper and Kagome knew that she'd obviously missed something again. For even though she'd regained nearly all her memory, large chunks were still missing. But for some reason, Kagome knew these missing memories were important.

"Sango?" Sango looked up from the music and into her best friends eyes, her own scared and worried.

"Kagome...do you..."

"Sango Taijiya! I hope you two are discussing ideas on the new line!" Sango visibly jumped and landed on her rear as both girls looked up to see their boss standing over them in her favorite black suit with it's pink pinstripes.

"Hai Ayame! We were just...ah..." Even though Ayame was a dear friend outside of work, she was still the boss, and Sango felt instantly doomed when she saw the telling spark in the redhead's eye.

"I suggest you get back to work while I have a word with Ms. Higurashi." Sango made a strange sound that resembled Kagome's signature "Eep!" before getting back up and practically sprinting back over to her desk and picking up a pencil before going insane on her newest coat design, even though it was painfully obvious she was still listening. Ayame sighed and removed her glasses as she kneeled next to Kagome, her eyes glancing over the music for a split second before focusing on Kagome's sapphire blue eyes.

"Kags, you've been distracted lately. You're one of my best designers and you're behind on work. What's distracting you so bad Kags?" Kagome sighed and turned to her once organized desk.

After becoming situated with life again, Kagome had gone back to work to find out just how long she'd really been in a coma. Work was piled high and she'd spent many nights at her drafting desk as the janitor cleaned around her. But not only was her work spread everywhere with her utencils, there were sketches from her personal sketch diary taped to the semi-walls on two sides of her, all being of the same man in various poses. It was strange, she couldn't really remember him, only his face and how he looked. She knew must have known him somehow, she felt it in her gut, but she couldn't place him. He had become her "muse" of sorts. The songs she'd written so far since her awakening were about him, even though she knew nothing about him or his relationship to her. She knew he was more than a friend, perhaps a past lover, but for some reason, no matter how hard she tried to push the memories forth, she couldn't place him in her heart or mind with any certainty.

Who was the man that haunted her? Perhaps she would never know.

"It's nothing. I'm just still trying to get back into my groove in life." Ayama smiled and Kagome smiled back. Then, with a mischevious glint in her eyes, Ayama reached into the pocket of her suit's jacket and pulled out a small white envelope.

"Well, I figured you might need a way to unwind. A little break to get you 'creative juices' running again." Kagome took the envelope, wary of the look in the redhead's eyes, and opened it using her mechanical pencil. Inside was a note and what looked like two tickets. She picked up the note first and read it to herself, not catching the bright smile on Ayame's face.

Hey Kags,

I know you're probably feeling pressured right now because you're behind on work. But, after thinking about it, I realized I was being unfair, as your boss and your friend. So, using some of my contacts and some overdue favors, I scored two backstage passes to the biggest concert of the year! The singer is new, male, and totally beautiful with a voice of an angel! I'm not gonna say who it is, it'll ruin the surprise! But feel free to take who you want, although I reccomend Sango because she's the only girl other than me who likes the guy's music so far. But I want you to have fun Kags. After the accident and...before that, you deserve to have a good time. Party it up and come back to work with lots of ideas! Love ya girly!

Ayame

Kagome smiled and put the note down before pulling Ayame down into a bone-crushing hug.

"Thank you!!!"

"Kags don't kill me before the concert even starts!" Kagome giggled and released the other girl.

"So, when does this little shoe begin?" Ayama smirked and looked at the clock behind her.

"Well let's see...The limo arrives at six and the show starts at seven." Kagome glanced up at the clock as well and felt her heart jump up into her throat as she leapt up out of her chair.

"Ayame! It's five right now!!!" Ayame let out a laugh as Kagome scurried around her office looking for odds and ends that she stuffed into her purse, suddenly remembering something as she tried to yank on her black hoodie.

"Sango! We're leaving!" Sango looked up from her design, readjusting her glasses she'd finally put back on.

"What's in your head today Kags? We have another hour before..." Kagome shook her head as she grabbed her purse and keys, shutting down her laptop and putting it under her arm before walking past Sango at a pace that made many turn their heads with strange looks on their face.

"Ayame scored us concert tickets and a limo! Get off your bum and come on! We'll take my Mustang!" Sango jumped up with a yelp of happiness before grabbing her own purse and coat, opting to come back for her laptop later, before sprinting after Kagome towards the elevator, making their senior designers shake their heads with low chuckles.

"You have ten minutes Sir!" He waved the young man away, hearing the dressing room door shut for what seemed to be the tenth time that night. Honestly, he didn't need any of the people his record company had hired. He just needed his guitar, piano, a mic, and his voice. It didn't matter to him if he went out on that stage in ripped up jeans and a t-shirt that had been stained with grease.

He was fine as long as he could perform.

It got rid of frustration.

That night several months ago, he'd ended the show a half hour early and sped back home to the hospital where he himself had been treated for injuries from a car accident in his teenage years. He'd practically ran up to the receptionists desk, scaring the wits out of the young girl sitting there, before demanding the room number of one Kagome Higurashi.

Unfortunately for him, Kagome's family had all been in the waiting room behind him at the time.

Without warning, he felt a small, hard object smash into the back of his head, making him hiss in pain as he turned around to see Kagome's mother Yume standing in the waiting room doorway, more furious and intemidating than he'd ever thought possible. The rest of the family was behind her, looking thoroughly shocked. She stomped over to him with a fire in her eyes so much like that of her daughter's, that he was too shocked to block the surprisingly powerful slap that she delivered across his left cheek. He'd stood there for a few moments, too stunned to move with his head cocked to the right. Then, he slowly turned and looked at the older woman once more, seeing tears running down her cheeks from her angry brown eyes.

"How dare you! How dare you come here after what you did!" She swung at him again, but he caught her hand. Then, she looked so utterly shocked when she truly looked at his face. He must have looked like a wreck. He hadn't slept more than two to three hours for longer than he could remember, the evidence being the dark circles under his eyes that were usually covered up by make-up on stage. He'd taken up drinking, starting every show either drunk or hungover. He was sure he must have looked different in her eyes, not so refined and sophisticated as he'd always been. Instead, he looked like the rocker he was now.

That, and he was sure that he strange amount of emotions on his face were what did it the most. Sadness, regret, and pain.

"I do not ask for any apologies by coming here. I simply..." Suddenly, her shock was gone and her anger had returned.

"If you honestly think we'll let you see her, you're mad!" Before he could respond, a door flew open a little ways down the hall and a familiar feminine shout rang out in the hall.

"Yume-chan! She's awake! Kagome's Awake!!!" Rin came running over to Yume and threw her arms around the older woman as they cried joyously with the rest of the family as they poured out the waiting room along with some familiar friends. They all gave him the same look, hostile and definitely not willing to let him near her.

"Yume..." Rin excite suddenly died and she pulled away from the older woman, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"What is it Rin-chan." Rin opened and shut her mouth several times before sighing and looking Yume straight in the eyes.

"Kagome doesn't remember anything."

He'd left then, knowing right away that he'd make sure she didn't remember him. It would just cause her pain and he could not make himself cause her pain because he selfishly wanted to be near her again. He kept performing, kept writing and the singing the songs born of his love for the girl he'd betrayed because of a stupid misunderstanding. It was a hollow existance, but it was an existance he was dealing with. Deciding he'd had enough of waiting around for the show to start, he sighed and stood up, taking a drink out of his nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniel's before walking out of the dressing room and grabbing his blood red guitar from the rack just outside the door.

'Showtime.' Giving the awaiting band his signal as well as the tech people, he heard the eerie intro to one of his darker songs begin. Suddenly, he was alive again as he strode out onto the stage, the lights nearly blinding him as usual as he heard the hundreds of female screams echo in the night.

"Wow, this venue is huge Sango!" Sango giggled as she too got out of the limo, excited to see Kagome out of her house and the office. She linked arms with the other girl and they laughed as they made their way to the private entrance where they showed the security their passes and were led to their place backstage.

The atmosphere was chaotic as the stage crew ran around double-checking everything as the eerie opener of a song Kagome had heard on the radio begin to make the air itself feel alive. The singer certainly knew his music.

When they reached their spot, the couldn't see the singer at all for he was positioned on the other end of the stage. But the music and the man's voice was enough and the two girls partied like they hadn't since before the accident. This went on for some time, dancing and only getting glances of the singer before the stage suddenly darkened and a young man came running off the stage with a blood red guitar in his hands. Kagome blinked in shock as a gleaming black grand piano was rolled out onto the stage. In the dim light, she could see a tall figure sit at the piano and she realized they'd finally be able to see the man who's voice had given them chills all night.

She could hear the tinkling notes of the piano suddenly, the lights still off and she realized that he was trying to rile up the crowd. Then, the piano stopped and she heard the massive percussion section start a long roll as the lights came back on with increasing brightness as the volume of the roll increased. Then, as his voice rang out through the stadium, Kagome finally saw the 'God of Music' she'd been trying to catch a glimpse of the entire time.

Todokanai ai to shitteiru no ni
Osaekirezu ni aishitsuzuketa
Mou ichido kono ude de dakishimetai
Kimi wo zutto hanasanai kara

Even though I know that my love will never reach you
I continue to love you uncontrollably
I want to hold you in my arms once more
And never let you go again

He was beautiful. That was the only thing she could possibly say about the man. And she could only see him from behind and sometimes a glimpse of a strong jaw and aristocratic face. Long silver hair ran down his back in rivers, glittering in the stage lights. He was tall, lean, and looked like had no fat content at all in his body. He wore black slacks with strange skull designs at the bottom of the legs, and a long-sleeved dress shirt that was white in color and rolled up to his elbows.

Not only that, but the shirt clung to him like a second skin as it was drenched with sweat and water he'd dumped over his head after one of the faster songs.

She didn't notice that Sango had gone still with shock, her eyes wide. All she knew was that she suddenly wanted to see the man's face more than anything. Suddenly, the music quieted and the piano tinkled out in the night with small melodies repeating over behind his magnificent voice.

amai yume no you na kimi to sugoshita hibi wo
ushinau koto nante nai to omotteita keredo...

The days I spent with you were like a sweet dream
I thought that I would never lose them, but...

"kimi no hitomi ni utsutteiru no ha boku ja nai n da ne"
utsumuku kimi ni nani mo ienakute

"I'm not the one reflected in your eyes"
Hanging my head low, I couldn't say anything to you

As though a hand had reached in and grabbed it, Kagome felt her heart tug at her ribcage. This singer, this man, who had all night sang songs she knew her brother would love with his taste of rock, was now singing a ballad. By the Kami, what a ballad it was too. There such sadness in it, such unrelenting love, and such passion that it shook Kagome to her very core. She'd had songs all her life that had touched her heart and remained there, just like any normal person. But this song, that sang of sadness and longing, did not touch her heart.

It touched her very soul and refused to let go.

todokanai ai to shitteiru no ni
osaekirezu ni aishitsuzuketa
mou ichido kono ude de dakishimetai
kimi wo zutto hanasanai kara

Even though I know that my love will never reach you
I continue to love you uncontrollably
I want to hold you in my arms once more
And never let you go again

"Kagome...I just remembered something I need to do...We have to..." But Kagome ignored her stuttering friend, not hearing the sudden concern and tone of fear in her voice. Kagome didn't listen to anything but the man's voice. She felt hypnotized, her body not listening to the faint demands that she needed to listen to Sango.

"Damn it...she won't listen to me!" Sango began looking around frantically.

She knew who the singer was now, and she'd be damned if she left him anywhere near Kagome. Even though she may not remember him, the doctors said that the emotional agony she'd been in before the accident left such an imprint on her that it could still hurt her even though she didn't know why. All it took was something to trigger her. A voice, a glance at his face, or even something as simple as one of the little notes they used to leave for each other when they were too busy for anything else.

'Damn you Sesshoumaru...she's finally going back to the Kagome we all love...and you're jeopordizing it!'

"Sango..." Sango stopped, her eyes wide as she looked at Kagome's blank stare.

"Kagome? What is it?" The other girl frowned slightly, as though she was trying to remember something.

"Do I...know this man?" Sango froze with a gasp, panic setting in with that small statement. But she shook it off suddenly and laughed nervously.

"Of course not Kags! Why would you know someone like him?" But Kagome didn't respond.

sukoshi terenagara yasashiku boku ni fureta
komorebi ni yureru kimi ha hitonatsu no kagerou

You touched me gently, just a little shy
In the wavering light between the trees, you are no more than the ephemeral summer heat

'I've heard words like that before...no...I read them...' An image of an elegant script came to her mind's eye, a black pen held in the grasp of elegant fingers. She could see the words being written, hear the deep rumble of a man's voice, and she could feel the warmth of his body as she leaned over his shoulder.

"Kagome!"

'What on Earth is going on?' As he sang, visions came with his words. His voice didn't just resonate in her ears, but in her soul as well. A sensation hit her chest as though someone was crushing it and breathing became nearly impossible.

kimi ga nokoshita nukumori ga ima mo mune wo shimetsukeru
mou modorenai to sou iikikasete...

Even now I hold onto the warmth that you left behind in my heart
Even though they warn me that the warmth will never return...

todokanai ai to shitteiru no ni
osaekirezu ni aishitsuzuketa
mou ichido kono basho de deaeru nara
nido to kimi wo hanasanai kara

Even though I know that my love will never reach you
I continue to love you uncontrollably
If I could only meet you here once more
I wouldn't let you go again

"Kagome! Stop it please!" Kaomge blinked, her ability to breathe returning as she felt Sango shaking her shoulders. Looking up, she saw the other woman standing there with frantic eyes, crying, and shaking.

"Sango?"

"Please! Let's just leave! It was a mistake to come here!" Kagome blinked, having never seen Sango looking so absolutely panicked in her life.

"Sango are you okay?"

"Kagome you don't understand! This guy is a threat to everything you've worked so hard to build back up!" Again, Kagome blinked. She remembered her therapy suddenly, how she'd always felt like she was chipping away at an emotional barrier. She'd always known something had horribly messed with her emotional side during the therapy, but once she'd learned how to work past it she'd forgotten about it. But now it suddenly came back to her and she narrowed her eyes before grabbing Sango's shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.

sono hohoemi wo kesshite wasurenai
koe ga kareru made kimi no na wo sakebitsuzuketa...

I'll never forget your smile
I kept calling out your name until my voice ran dry...

todokanai ai to shitteiru no ni
osaekirezu ni aishitsuzuketa
mou ichido kono ude de dakishimetai
kimi wo zutto hanasanai kara

Even though I know that my love will never reach you
I continue to love you uncontrollably
I want to hold you in my arms one more
And never let you go

"Sango. You have to tell me the truth. That thing that held me back during therapy, the reason pictures are missing from my mothers place, and the reason you've all been treating me like a porceline doll...is it this guy? Sango! Don't look away! Tell me!" His voice was making her skin tingle as her anger grew. She knew without a doubt as she saw Sango fighting for a response that this man, this singer that she'd originally thought she'd never met before, had been someone important in her life and yet had left a horrible mark upon her.

'I need to know...I need to know what caused all of this to begin with. I've always heard my family blaming someone for my accident...could it be him?'

"Kagome please...I can't..." Kagome shook her, suddenly more than rationally angry at the situation than any sane person should be.

"You can Sango! And you will! This is my life we're talking about!" Sango looked up at her, her knees having nearly buckled, and her eyes were wide with fright.

i kimi wo zutto hanasanai kara...

I will never let you go...

"Kagome...I can't..." Sango opened her mouth to say something else, but as the slow intro to the next song started and the stage lights died, a deep voice interuppted their conversation.

"Is there an issue here ladies? I'm sure one of the stage crew can..." A light lit up the backstage and the man stopped, his eyes widening as they landed on a pair of sapphire colored eyes.

'How is it possible? Her family was dead-set on never letting me near her.'

"Don't you dare come any closer to her!" Sango's fierce whisper startled Kagome but her ire came back and she grabbed Sango's shoulder.

"I was right! I did know him didn't I?!" Sesshoumaru felt his chest clench.

'She still doesn't remember.'

"Kagome, this isn't the time nor place for..."

"I don't care! I need to..."

"Kagome, just listen to her." Kagome froze, her breath hitching when the man spoke to her. He sounded so sad, so absolutely torn. But there was more to her sudden pause. For the way he'd said her name, the way his jaw had rolled just before he'd spoken, triggered something and suddenly images were flashing before her mind's eye. Ice skating, kisses shared under the stars, a stunning diamond ring, a vacation in Hawaii, and many, many images of her and this man sitting at a grand piano, smile and exchanging ideas. Without knowing why, a single word came into her head as she felt her legs begin to shake and skull split.

"Sesshoumaru..." She only heard the gasps shared between the man and Sango before her mind went blank and her knees collapsed.

kimi wo zutto hanasanai kara...

I will never let you go...

Hooray for updates!!!! Small, detached, and pretty much ewwww update but at least I'm writing again!!! dance!

On another note, the annual awards are taking nominations and so far I've recieved one. WHICH IS TOTALLY FRIGGIN AWESOME!!!! But yes...anywho...it'd be even more awesome to see my penname on there more than once for various stories. nudge nudge wink wink

-Blue